


It’s About Yoshiko

by Hertz



Category: Love Live! School Idol Festival (Video Game), Love Live! School Idol Project, Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2018-10-14
Packaged: 2019-08-02 01:26:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16295654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hertz/pseuds/Hertz
Summary: Hanamaru tells Ruby-chan a secret.





	It’s About Yoshiko

“Ruby-chan, can I tell you a secret?” 

Ruby lets out a little squeak, disturbing the tranquil peace of the school library. Hastily, she cowers behind the moderately large paperback in her hands. “Of course, Hanamaru-chan,” she says, quieter than her squeak before.

Hanamaru’s golden brown eyes shine with summer warmth. “Alright, thank you so much, Ruby-chan! Well, ordinarily I wouldn’t want to burden you with this kinda stuff, but I’ve been… I’ve been thinking about it for some time, and I felt like I was going to burst.”

“No, no, it’s fine! You’ll never burden me!”

“Ah, so… so it’s alright?” Hanamaru hesitates.

“Go on.” Ruby smiles at her best friend. “If you want to, I’ll always be here to listen.”

“Ah, ah… z-zura… you see…”

Ruby witnesses something strange then. Hanamaru ducks, brown bangs framing her face that has pink dusting over her cheeks. Pink. Hanamaru’s blushing. 

“Y-you see,” she tries to continue. Ruby’s always been the shy one of their duo, but now Hanamaru’s squirming in her seat, flipping idly through the pages of her book and avoiding all eye contact with Ruby.

“Hanamaru-chan? It’s okay.” Ruby crawls closer to her on her knees, pigtails swishing. “It’s alright. It’s just me, Ruby. You’ve helped me so much. I’m really grateful,” she says with a smile. “I’ll do my best to help you too!”

Shakily, Hanamaru gives her a little smile. “I’m happy for the support. It’s just… _zura_...” Hanamaru lets out one big sigh as she falls onto her back, closing her eyes. “I’m sorry. Why’s it so hard?”

“It’s okay,” Ruby says, trying to remember what her sister told her about her own shyness. “Right, right, how about you think really hard about what you want to say first? I promise I won’t laugh!”

“Zura,” Hanamaru says, frowning as her lips form a pout. Ruby sits there and waits for Hanamaru to finish her train of thought patiently. Finally, Hanamaru takes a deep breath, gives Ruby her most determined look, and says, “It’s… i-it’s about Yoshiko-chan, zura.”

“O-oh?” Ruby looks at her, surprised. Had they gotten into an argument? No, not really. In fact, the two girls seemed closer than ever as far as Ruby knew. They were always together in class and outside of it, Yoshiko in her Yohane persona and Hanamaru getting a kick out of putting her in her lowly mortal place. Ruby always enjoys hanging out with the fallen angel as well, so to think that they had some beef between them…

No, no. Hanamaru didn’t seem down, so maybe a crisis was averted for the most part. Ruby doesn’t really know how to ask, though, so she continues to wait patiently for Hanamaru to compile the rest of her thoughts together. When Hanamaru looks at Ruby, unsure, the redhead smiles, striking her signature Ganbaruby pose.

“Y-Yoshiko-chan, she… I…” Hanamaru bites her lip, worrying it between her teeth. Her blush was back in full force. The light streamed in through the window, casting her in a golden glow. “There’s no good way of putting this, huh… I think I like her.”

Ruby blinks. Blinks again.

“P-piigii!” she squeaks out, falling to the floor on her side. Her entire face turns almost the same lovely shade as her hair. Her mouth is left gaping wide open, red strands frazzled to the tips.

“Ruby-chan?”

Ruby pants, sitting right back up. “S-sorry, I just… eek!” Ruby finds herself mirroring Hanamaru’s blush. “Y-you’re sure?”

“Y-yeah, zura!” Hanamaru nods, a determined look on her face. “I j-just… when I talk to her, I feel all, really, like, happy inside. I’m always super excited to see her, and I’m always thinking about her, and when I see strawberries! It just reminds me of her, oh, and Strawberry Trapper! She has such a good singing voice, and she’s so pretty… oh. Zura.” Hanamaru coughs, embarrassed. Her seems to double in its intensity. “I’m sorry, I was rambling, wasn’t I?”

“Oh. O-oh, no, you can continue,” Ruby says, despite the fact that she suddenly feels like screaming out “Piigii!” at the top of her lungs. This is… how does she react? Does Hanamaru want her advice? This is… this was…

“Oh, no.” Hanamaru chuckles awkwardly. “I’m sorry, Ruby-chan. I’ll spare you the details.”

“I… I see!” There’s a bright beaming grin on Ruby’s face now. Excitedly, she clenches her fists and bounces up and down on her seat, making her pigtails fly this way and that. “I’m so happy for you, Hanamaru-chan!”

“Zura?”

“I… I… um, well. I’ve kinda always wondered about what liking someone is like. It must be exciting the first time, right?”

Hanamaru’s look of worry dissolves into a smile. “I… yeah.”

“That’s good,” Ruby says with a smile. “I really hope it’ll work out for you!”

“Zu-zura!? I think it’s still too early, Ruby-chan!” Hanamaru exclaims. Flustered, she clutches a book to her chest, shaking her head rapidly. “No, no. For now, I’m fine with this being a secret. Don’t tell anyone, please.” Hanamaru’s golden eyes are wide and desperate. “Especially not Yoshiko-chan!”

Ruby nods with a determined glint in her eye. “Y-yes! Don’t worry, Hanamaru-chan. I’ll keep it really, really safe!”

Hanamaru lets out a visible exhale at that. “Thank you, Ruby-chan,” Hanamaru says, slumped over all of a sudden. Several of her long strands of hair flick over to cover her face. “It’s just… ah, I needed to tell someone, but at the same time… I’m not ready yet.”

“Sure, sure.” Ruby reaches out a hand and puts it on Hanamaru’s shoulder. Slowly, she kneads her hands comfortingly against it. “Dia-chan told me that this kinda stuff takes time, so I think it’s okay to take as long as you want, Hanamaru-chan.”

Hanamaru takes a short moment to lift her head up and look outside as the evening light filters the world sepia. “You’re right, Ruby-chan.”

“Dia-chan is, not me.”

“Well, you’re not Dia-san, and you took the time to listen to my being silly.”

“It’s not silly! Your feelings matter,” Ruby says quietly, but firmly.

Hanamaru gulps down a lump in her throat. She turns to Ruby and gives her a purposeful nod. “Yes. So thank you for listening and keeping my secret. Maybe one day… I can tell her how I feel.” The brunette looks outside again. Is she picturing Yoshiko-chan? 

“Good luck, Hanamaru-chan!”

“I’ll do my Rubesty, zura!”


End file.
